live in Dallas (2011)

live show

Bitterly sipping my $9 Coors Light at the House Of Blues, I was in a fine mood to hate the opening act, Koo Koo Kangaroo. They came on stage and they were ridiculous. Matching T-shirts with gold lettering, prancing around on stage and rapping about their disdain for PB&J's with the crust still around the bread. Yet, despite myself, I couldn't help but enjoy their act. Silly little raps about the alphabet, dinosaurs, and ninjas were fun. That's the bottom line. They were having fun, every song was a sing-along, and no one was taking anything too seriously. It was an act that would have fit in perfectly on Yo Gabba Gabba.

Next up, Suburban Legends took the stage. It had been a while since I had seen the boy band of ska and I had mixed feelings. Their last album, Let's Be Friends... and Slay the Dragon Together, was horrible. But the latest EP they released shows a return to their ska roots. I was wondering which band took the stage. Luckily, it was the latter. They even did a fun cover of the viral "Bed Intruder" video.

Everyone's favorite surf-rock, ska superheroes then took the stage. I'd been waiting to see this performance for a decade and I was not disappointed. They roared on stage with "Charge", played a couple new songs, fought evil scientists and the dog-headed humanoid, mocked Family Guy, and closed their set with "Pool Party". I couldn't have asked for more.

Finally, Reel Big Fish took the stage. It was a bittersweet show for me. I love the band, but this show was without longtime member Scott Klopfenstein. I was wondering how it would turn out. Aaron took charge and they opened with "Sell Out". Since most Fish fans would argue that Scott is irreplaceable, the band took a different route. Instead of having a second trumpet player, the band added saxophonist Matt Appleton. Hearing this full horn section was an awesome addition to their live show. However, with Scott gone, the banter did suffer. Without the back and forth, the show felt like it was missing something. But, Aaron still told jokes. The crowd still laughed and everyone had fun dancing the hours away. My one disappointment from the show was when Aaron started playing the beginning of "Cannibal" only to switch to "Beer".

Despite this, Reel Big Fish still puts on an incredibly fun live show and shouldn't be missed by anyone if they play near your town.